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Police fees could sink York basketball tournament

Wayne Scott said he didn't know about the past-due fee for his city event. But city officials say such a charge is standard.

By TIM STONESIFERDaily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
02/23/2013 06:38:27 PM EST

York, PA -

Wayne Scott grew up playing basketball in the city, spending hours in the park and on the court at William Penn high school. After two former local players were killed separately a few years ago, he organized a tournament in their memory.

It was basketball, after all, that always brought those kids together, he said.

And for two summers the Trey and Boo Classic memorial tournament drew hundreds of spectators, going off without a hitch at Penn Park in York. At least that's what Scott thought.

But earlier this month, the 28-year-old got a bill from the city -- $6,335 for police event services from last year. The city also said Scott owes another $6,000-plus for police presence at this summer's upcoming event, Scott said, due up front.

No money, they say, no tournament.

City officials provided little comment on Friday.

But Scott said he simply can't afford to pay. That bill will end the event.

"I just want to do something positive for the city," he said. "But I don't have that money."

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Trey McCanic was a senior when Scott was still a freshman, and the younger boy grew up watching McCanic play basketball for William Penn Senior High School. Trey was Scott's idol on the court.

Ricardo "Boo" Banks had skills on the court too, Scott said. He was a point guard who thrived with the ball in his hands.

McCanic was stabbed to death on Sept. 7, 2002, the 23-year-old leaving behind two young children and a fiancée.

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Banks was just 19 when he died, in August 2007. He was shot in the back of the head at Williams Park.

The shooting occurred about 20 minutes after Banks dropped off his cousin, Wayne Scott.

"He told me he was coming back to get me soon," Scott recalled. "That's what he said to me."

Painful memories, though, are what pushed Scott to start a nonprofit, Helping Offer Options and Direction, or HOOD.

They were the catalyst, two years ago, for a memorial basketball tournament.

The inaugural Trey and Boo Classic was a hit at Penn Park in the summer of 2011, with teams coming from as far away as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

"It's like a day at the park, you know?" Scott said this week.

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Scott owes the city money.

Specifically, he received a bill on Feb. 13 for $6,335. That's a payment past due, he was told, for police presence at the second-annual basketball tournament last summer. The deadline is March 1.

Police Chief Wes Kahley could not be reached for comment on the fee on Friday.

Police in Pennsylvania can and do bill for such event services, though the fees must be uniform and not retroactive, due in part to a previous case in York, which, in 2007, was argued all the way to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Scott's case, the fee was waived the first year, in 2011, he said.

Last year, negotiations began before the event, Scott said. Police told him he'd have to pay; he asked if they could work something out.

Scott pointed to the good behavior the prior year, and said he could bring his own guys to serve as security.

Or he and the city could split the cost, he said, thinking a car wash or some other fundraiser could bring in the needed cash.

The city said no, he said. And Scott knew he couldn't pay.

Tournament entry is free, though Scott charges the players. But that money goes toward event T-shirts, he said.

The discussion about the city's bill was left hanging.

Soon enough, though, the tournament went on -- with police on-site -- and Scott said he heard no more about the money for nine months, until that Feb. 13 letter.

In addition, Scott has been told that for this year's event he needs to pay up front.

There's no way to raise an additional $6,000 -- more than $12,000 total -- in the coming weeks and months, Scott said.

And he recently told a city clerk as much.

A city response came via email: "In light of these circumstance, I am going to have to delete your permit from the system," it reads in part. "Until you fulfill your financial responsibility ... I will not be able to issue you a permit."

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The American Civil Liberties Union is considering Scott's case.

Mary Catherine Roper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said the situation is being examined, but no decision has been made. The ACLU cannot discuss case specifics.

But Roper said there are two salient points regarding such assembly ordinances.

First, cities can't charge for police presence unless it is requested by the organizer, or necessary because of the nature of the activity, she said.

Second, cities can't impose charges that essentially make it impossible for organizers to use public spaces, Roper said. Basically, there needs to be a provision for the poor, she said.

"Whether some or all of that applies here, that has not been determined," she said of the York case.

At least one local organizer said she doesn't mind the fees. Mary Yeaple, who runs York's St. Patrick's Day Parade, said via email her group pays for tables and chairs from the city, and hires four officers for traffic and crowd control.

"Personally, as a city taxpayer, I feel these charges are fair," she said.

But in the meantime, one past basketball tournament participant said he's talked to Scott, and is worried the fees will nix this year's summer event.

Quinn Howard, a city resident who played basketball with Scott in high school, said the tournament has a great atmosphere, drawing to the court "the best of the best," including past city sports stars. It's great for York, he said, and it's great for Wayne Scott.

"I love how his story could have gone down the wrong road," he said, "but how he turned his life around."

Scott pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and fleeing police in a 2003 incident, and he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, driving with a suspended license and operating unsafe equipment in a 2006 incident, according to online court records. He received 12 months probation in the latter case, records show. He's awaiting arraignment on an unlawful sales of liquor charge, according to court records.

Scott acknowledged he's had run-ins with the law. But that's not relevant, he said.

"The bottom line is there was never any fight at the Trey and Boo Classic," he said.

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A meeting with Mayor Kim Bracey is in the works.

Scott said the mayor asked him to set up an appointment, and that he left a message on Thursday. He's waiting for a reply.

Bracey forwarded a message seeking comment for this story to business administrator Michael O'Rourke, who on Friday sought more information about the situation via email. Late Friday, he said the city loses money on such event fees, because the officers must be paid overtime.

O'Rourke forwarded procedural questions to Jim Gross, public works director, who could not be reached Friday evening.

At the end of the week, Scott spoke more about the city he knows and his memories: a Human Relations Commission Award for HOOD's work with at-risk youth; a 2011 unity march he organized to bring people together downtown.

Right now, Scott has hope on his side, he said. And he's got time to advocate for his tournament, since he's not working.

Scott explained he's been looking for a job. But it's tough out there.

"It's hard when you have a record," he said. "Sometimes, you don't get a chance."

York's assembly ordinance history

York city's public assembly ordinance has been in the news before, specifically through a challenge by a white-supremacist group that was argued all the way to federal court.

In March 2007, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in part reversing a lower-court decision, ruled that the white-supremacist group did not have to reimburse York city for police protection and other costs stemming from a rally.

The court said that the city rule in place at the time, which allowed the costs for such events to vary according to a group's message, was unconstitutional.

"Given the substantial expense that could be levied upon a speaker, and the almost limitless possibility of abuse, it is an understatement to conclude that this provision chills constitutionally-protected speech," U.S. Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry wrote in the ruling.

The offending language was eventually removed from the city ordinance.

However, police in York and elsewhere in Pennsylvania can still charge for event services as long as the fee is applied uniformly, according to an American Civil Liberties Union attorney.

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